KEYNOTE SPEAKER

ISRA CHAKER

Refugee Rights Advocate

Isra Chaker is a civil right activist, campaigning expert, and public speaker. She serves as the Refugee Campaign Lead at one of the leading international NGOs in the world, Oxfam; where she uses her campaigns expertise in managing this campaign that advocates for vulnerable people such as refugees, asylees, temporary protected status (TPS) holders, and opposes discriminatory policies such as the Muslim Bans. Being personally impacted by the Muslim Ban, and not being able to reunite with her extended family in Syria, Isra is passionate in her work for reuniting families and advocating for vulnerable people. Recently, she was a featured speaker at the national #FamiliesBelongTogether March in Washington, DC to over 40,000 people. One of her infamous projects that went viral in 2017 was bringing refugees to President Trump’s childhood home in Queens, New York to share their experiences and their “American Dream”. She has been interviewed and featured on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman, NowThis, AJ+, ABC News, Al Jazeera, CNN, the Associated Press, VICE News, the Washington Post, etc. She is an appointed Global Ambassador for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency USA (UNRWA) for her invaluable contributions in raising awareness and funds for their projects supporting refugee assistance. In addition, Isra was recently chosen as an ICON for the "We The Future" campaign by Amplifier, which recognizes ten young activists from across the country in their leading work on current social justice issues affecting humanity. Isra was chosen to represent the refugee and immigration justice theme, known as "We the Future, will not be Banned". She is the only Muslim in the campaign, and art work ofIsra as well as a curriculum she designed to break down the stereotypes and misconceptions of Muslims, refugees and immigrants will be taught in over 20,000 schools across the United States this academic year.